ENGLISH LITERATURE

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450–1066)

450

It was characterized by oral translations and poetry, where topics such as heroism, destiny and moral instruction were mentioned. Its historical context was based on the clans ruled by themselves (first warriors - then farmers). The first great Germanic work (Beowulf poet) mixes the legends of Scandinavia with the experience of the Anglo-Saxons in England.
The oral tradition was a literary effect, thus introducing the Roman alphabet. Caedmon - Cynewulf
(c. 800)

Middle English Period (1066–1500)

1066

Its historical context begins with the crusades, where the church uses literature to instruct the population; themes such as honor, religious devotion and chivalry were developed, based and implemented in oral traditions and plays.
The substitution of the natural gender was generated by the grammatical gender and the loss of the old system of declensions in the noun, adjective and pronoun.
William Caxton - Chaucer Geoffry
(1385)

The Renaissance (1500–1660)

1500

It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance in the late 14th century, the style and ideas of the Renaissance were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabeth era in the second half of the 16th century is regarded as the height of the English Renaissance.
Topics of human potential and love were discussed, with genres of drama and grief. Its historical context ends in the War of the Roses and the printing of the press.
William Shakespeare, Tomas Dekker, Milton
(1485)

The Neoclassical Period (1600–1785)

1660

El periodo de restauración ve alguna respuesta a la época puritana, especialmente en el teatro y las comedias de restauración o comedias de moda.
Se desarrollaron temas como la razón, la armonía y estabilidad, basados en diferentes géneros literarios como la poesía, la sátira, los ensayos y la carta.
En su contexto histórico la mitad de la población masculina fue alfabetizada y se comenzaron a construir fabricas.
William Congreve, John Dryden, Alezander Pope, Jonathan Swit, Daniel Defoe
(1660)

The Romantic Period (1785–1832)

1785

It was characterized by poetry, lyrical ballads, and the novel. Driven by ideas of personal and political freedom from the energy and sublimity of the natural world (Romantic poets wrote about the wonderful and supernatural, the exotic and the medieval).
In its literature effects the population critically examines society and human beings with seen as good.
Charlotte Smith, William Hazlitt, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Austen, M. Shelley.
(1798)

The Victorian Period (1832–1901)

1832

It was characterized by poetry, fiction, essays, and lyrics produced during Qucen's reign. There were themes in literature such as unfortunate life, city vs. country, sexual promiscuity, and aristocratic villains.
The Victorian era was the era of the English novel, ideal for describing contemporary life and entertaining the middle class; led to industrial growth and uprising of countries and trade.
Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis, Tennyson, Rossetti, Dickens
(1837)

The Edwardian Period (1901–1914)

1901

The literature of the Guardian age reflected the ambivalence of the new millennium. Some playwrights transformed Edwardian theater into a form of debate
Topics such as political organization, weapons and war, and family and marriage were reflected; Imagism developed as an American and British poetry movement that borrowed haiku and free verse; Futurism was born in Europe and advocated the abandonment of conventional syntax and the use of images of the technological age
George Bernard Shaw
(1901)

The Georgian Period (1910–1936)

1910

It was characterized by the two main genres of literature: hagiography and hymnography and its main characteristic of modern poetry was freedom.
The aesthetic principles of Georgianism included respect for formalism, as well as the bucolic and romantic theme; Georgian poetry has undergone three main periods of evolution: classicism, romanticism, and realism.
Thomas Peacock, Nightmare Abbey, Charles Lamb
(1910).

The Modern Period (1914–1945)

1914

Literary genres such as poetry in free verse, fantasy, speeches, and novels were developed, based on the theme of loneliness and social loss of values.
In its historical context was a million soldiers lost from WWI and Germany bombed England in the First World War.
Individualism and man for himself dominated because it was perceived as a time of isolation where the connection with others, with society, was seen as an almost impossibility.
Oscar Wilde, John Galsworthy
(1901)

The Postmodern Period (1945–1965)

1945

Advances in science and technology in Western countries rapidly intensified in the early 20th century, causing a sense of unprecedented progress.
This literature tends to reject the low limits between art and literature as well as the distinction between different genres, forms of writing, and narration.
C.S. Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston
(1945)

Contemporary period (1980-Present)

1980

It was characterized by themes such as open-mindedness and the interpretation of the past, genres such as first-person fiction and narratives were developed.
Its historical context is based on advances in communication to make the world seem smaller.
Stoppard, Follet, Rowling, David Mitchell, Margaret Atwood
(1980)